Friday, September 26, 2008

Wrestling with Rubber

He’s a native Kansan, but Aaron Schields’ hometown of Goodland may as well be a world away from Kansas City. The No. 83 tire carrier says there’s little to Goodland, a small town seven hours to the west, other than farming, football and wrestling.

The latter he was exceptional at. He won four state titles in the Kansas Kids youth program and then took 4A state championships his junior (145 pounds) and senior years (152).

“It’s the most challenging sport mentally and physically,” said Schields, 27. “I kind of conquered all of that when I was younger. It teaches self-discipline.”

Wrestling translates well on pit road, too. A tire and rim weigh some 70 pounds.

“There’s more strength involved carrying tires,” he said. “But there’s also lots of balance and agility, quick and explosive moves.”

In New Jersey: Points leader Scott Speed continues his quest for the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship. He was second fastest in Friday's opening practice on the road course at New Jersey Motorsports Park, with "European style" qualifying set for Saturday afternoon.

4 Comments:

The Bulls looked good right off the truck yesterday. Good practice and good qualifying efforts for both the 83 and 84 teams. Hopefully they can dial those cars in during practice today so they can have a solid race tomorrow.